Scales › Locrian

Locrian scale

unstable half-diminished

7 notes

RC b9Db b3Eb 11F b5Gb b13Ab b7Bb

guide tones (3rd & 7th — the heart of the sound) avoid (strong clash)

C · Db · Eb · F · Gb · Ab · Bb

Play in the key of

Locrian on the guitar: the fretboard diagram

Here is the Locrian scale laid out across the whole neck, from fret 0 to fret 15. The guide tones (3rd and 7th) are highlighted — they're what makes the scale's color sing. Use the key selector above to shift the shape along the neck and find the positions in your key.

E 11 b5 b13 b7 R b9 b3 11 b5 B R b9 b3 11 b5 b13 b7 R b9 G b13 b7 R b9 b3 11 b5 b13 b7 D b3 11 b5 b13 b7 R b9 b3 11 A b7 R b9 b3 11 b5 b13 b7 R E 11 b5 b13 b7 R b9 b3 11 b5 0123456789101112131415

What color?

The most unstable mode: b3, b5 and b9 abolish any rest, the diminished fifth keeps the chord from holding together. This is the color of half-diminished chords (m7b5), with the b9 remaining the most fragile note.

Origin & history

The seventh mode, the only one whose fifth is diminished: without a perfect fifth, it does not establish a stable tonic, which makes it the mode least used as a tonal center. It is encountered mostly in passing, or over a half-diminished chord.

Which chords to play it on?

The jazz consensus (Aebersold) recommends it on:

half-diminished chord

Sibling modes

The Locrian scale is one of the modes of the major scale : it shares exactly the same notes as the modes below, but built on a different degree of the parent scale (major (Ionian)).

major (Ionian) reference major color Dorian bright minor, major thirteenth Phrygian dark minor, Spanish b9 Lydian ♯11 brilliance Mixolydian natural dominant Aeolian (natural minor) melancholic natural minor

Try it in a real chart

Paste a chord chart into the tool: Pentania tells you, chord by chord, when this scale fits — and what other colors are open to you. Open the tool →